The present invention relates to a tire testing system that positions a rotating tire on a roadway simulator. More particularly, the present invention provides a compact wheel positioning assembly having focused links.
The testing of automobile tires using a roadway simulator such as a drum or flat belt is well known. During the testing, the tire is rotated against an outer surface of the roadway simulator that simulates various road conditions such as concrete or blacktop. The tire is typically mounted to a wheel assembly, the wheel assembly being forced toward the roadway simulator in order to apply radial loads upon the tire to simulate the weight of an automobile.
The wheel assembly is mounted to an adjustable carriage for adjusting the position of the wheel assembly, and thus, the tire relative to the roadway simulator. By varying the angular placement of the tire on the roadway simulator, treadwear, static and dynamic forces and moments, and other parameters required by specific testing practices can be measured for various camber and slip (steering) positions. However, adjustable carriages of the prior art commonly include long links to control the position of the wheel assembly. These long links reduce the stiffness of the carriage, which limits the performance of the carriage and makes determination of true tire position and forces applied to the tire more difficult to obtain. In addition, the long links make the carriages quite bulky requiring excessive space in the plant or laboratory.